The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) on Thursday registered Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, under its new National Identity Card scheme.
Fayemi’s biometric data was captured in Ado-Ekiti alongside that of the Deputy Governor, Prof. Modupe Adelabu, by the NIMC officials.
The NIMC team was led by Dr Robert Attuh, Head of Business and Development Services, who stood in for the Director General of the commission.
The governor and his deputy were subsequently presented with their National ID Numbers after their biometric data were captured at the Bureau of Public Infrastructure Building in Ado-Ekiti.
The event formally marked the take-off of the National e-ID Card scheme in the state.
Fayemi promised to give the NIMC maximum support needed to discharge its statutory responsibility of identity management in the state.
He said that his administration has carried out some measures to ensure proper planning and management of the state resources through the management of the identity of government workers.
Fayemi identified the payroll biometric integrated system in which workers on the government payroll were identified and now paid electronically to ensure transparency.
He said that the NIMC mandate in capturing the identity of residents of the state was in consonance with his administration’s resolve to generate its own data for planning purposes.
The NIMC will also be used in the enrolment in schools and other vital information needed.
According to him, identity management was a very critical issue in a place like Ekiti given what was experienced in one of the local government areas of the state on the issue of identity.
The governor urged all Ekiti residents to make use of the opportunity to get registered for their biometric details to go into the national database as good citizens of the country.
Earlier in his remarks, the leader of the NIMC team, Dr. Attuh, acknowledged the support received by his agency from the Fayemi administration.
Attuh revealed that NIMC now has presence in six out of sixteen local government areas of Ekiti State with four enrolment centres for biometric data registration of citizens.
The National e-ID Card Scheme, Attuh said allows the bearer to transact payment locally and internationally and can also be used as a travel document.
He said the new document which was chip-based can also be used to pay workers’ salaries to prevent the ghost workers syndrome.
Attuh said the NIMC officials also came to Ekiti for the purpose of signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the state government.
He said the collaboration would allow a seamless enumeration of residents.
This, he said would allow government to meet up with its responsibilities, payment of stipends to the aged, execution of healthcare policies among others.
Attuh said the project is a pilot programme to be replicated in other states of the federation.
